The Portland daily press., 1887-06-25
a NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.
Buffalo sIlps own story Of a Thrilling
Escape.

the columns Of ''The Globe" not only on &C
count Of the numerous claims upon my time
but also on account Of the strong objection
ingrained in my composition to talking about
myself. / have always had great horror Of
self-adyertisement, and am Of the opinion
that those who say the most frequently do
the least l have, however, since my arrival
IN this country been so very handsomely
treated by the English press and the English
public that | feel l should i'll repay the con-
sideration have received at their hands
were to refuse the request made 10 me to
1ot down few Of the curious adventures /
have been through. Having consented to
cast my bashful ness to the winds, and 10
write something about my humble self, |
ind am placed in another difficulty, mas
much as am embarrassed at the quantity OF
material at my command from which Ia
choose. In the great Wild West Of AmerI-
ca, region second to none in beauty and
var iety, men lead lives totally different 10
those endured in the old cities Of the East.
Adventures are Of daily occurrence Hair
breadth escapes are taken as a matter of
course, and a struggle for life Is looked upon
merely al an Incident in the Ordin airy run of
lie. Having lived In this land for some
tning over iorty years, and having morrow
er, followed various professions, the military
among others, IL will be understood that 90
lar as matter about which 10 write Is con-
cerned, / have an 'embarras de richesses .
therefore plunge boldly into the depth Of
memory, and Selling on the first incident at
hand, think cannot do better than detail
an adventure gone through by me one dark
night at Laramie Peak.
have from earliest infancy been used 10
she me Oh the prairie. Riding, trapping.
snootlng and hghting come as second nature
70 one bred as l, and in the Wild West we
think no more Of a fifty-mile ride through
the virgin forester over the snow-capped
mountain, unattended and unprotected save
Dy ones own prowess, than does an average
Lfondoner OF crossing road. 1t was a per-
Iect afternoon some twenty years ago that /
mounted my steed and set our from the
Horseshoe Valley. l was alone and bent on
sport. bear by choice, but anyhow sport i
soon got out Of sight Of the station, and as
my morse strobe through the underwood he
frequently scared up game, sage hens and
Jack-raDoits. Antelope and deer were every
moment passing my trail as / gradually as-
cended the mountain side, until the country
got oleaker and wilder, and the vegetation
less marked. Then / knew that was In a
likely place for bear, but still saw none In
THIS way got along, until, feeling the pangs
OF hunger, shot a bird, and, dfsmounting,
unsaddled my horse, tied him up, and. haT-
ing built a little fire and cooked the bird, /
away for couple of hours siesta. This ov-
er, L remounted, and, disappointed at the
lack Of bear, decided to camp out for the
night, in hopes Of getting better sport the
next day. 1 rode on. therefore, until dusk,
Tor the days were drawing in. and 1t was
dark early, and having found a suitable
camping place, / shot couple of sage-hens
Tor supper and breakfast, and made all snug.
had Just tethered my animal and was
ABOUT 70 nght the fire, when was startled
DV the QOnnd Of a hOrca xubfnnxrfvor
up stream. was very much astonished, for
was In an exceedingly wild country miles
away from camp, and the last place In the
world where TO expect to find men. / imme-
dlateiy ran 10 my animal to prevent him an
swering the sound, and bordering over it
concluded that there must be some Indians
camping near by. was very anxious 10 find
out who the owner Of the strange horse was,
and that, II possible without letting him
know OF my presence. | therefore took nv
gun and made on foot for the spot. Judge
my surprise, when having descended a few
hundred OF yards at seeing over adozen
grazing.
was evidently in the neighborhood Of a
large party, and soon discovered their
whereabouts by ray Of light streaming
from the bank close by. l carefully erept up
10 the spot, and found the light came from a
dug-out in the mountain side. l listened and
heard voices, and soon distinguished Lam
guage which told me that the inhabitants,
whoever they were. were whites, and not
Indians. They were evidently a party OF
trappers; so thinking / would make their
acquaintance, / boldly walked up to the
door and knocked.
heard muttering, as Of whispered con-
s9itatlon, and then gruff voice called out,
Whose there?"
"a white man and friend, /" I replied. and
without more ado the door was opened by a
great hulking fellow, who babe me enter in
tones none teo courteous.
Il entered the duQ-Out and Oazad upOt,
eight OF the most villainous looking men it
mas ever been my lot to see. | recognized
two Immediately as having been discharged
some months back from their employment
charged with murder The rest were stran-
gers TO me, but soon saw that they were
all well suited to one another. They were
evidently band Of horse thieves and des-
peradoes, the curse Of the country and a
danger 70 every honest man. was speedily
put through my PAGES.
where are you going, young man, and
to be the chief
Il am entirely alone. | left Horseshoe
station this morning for bear hunt, and not
finding any bears determined to camp out
Tor the night and wait till tomorrow, and
was Just turning In when heard your horse
whinnying, and so came up to your camp to
see u there were any pals Of mine here"
This answer was evidently regarded as not
entirely satisfactory. Where's your horse?"
demanded the chief 81 left him down the
creek" L answered.
The men Immediately proposed going to
fetch the animal, but / saw at once that
this would never do. / was at the same
time entirely in their hands, and could not
do much against eight, so, not liking the idea
OF their fetching my horse, and so cutting
on my only means Of escape, proposed TO
fetch Il myself. IN leave my gun here"
said. land will bring up the horse" This
did not however, suit the gentlemen. Jim
and will 90 with you after your HORSE
said the the chief, "but you can leave your
gun here just the same" 1t would have
been idle to resist. so, cheerfully saying IAN
right" put down my doubIe-bafrei, and
followed my rufianly leaders.
We went down the creek in the dark
There was no moon, and 1t was hard to see
where we were putting our feet. At length
we reached the horse, when one Of the men
unhitched the rein ana said, ''I'll lead him.
very we'll. ! said, lead on"
picked up the sage hens had shot. We
turned and retraced our steps, the thieves
Leading my horse and following in the rear
My plan OF escape had failed, and things be-
gan TO look ugly. | suddenly resolved 10
night for my freedom. l had two reyOlyers
with me, the men not having taken the
trouble TO search meas yet. 1t was pitch
dark purposely dropped one Of the sage
mems was carrying, and asked the man next
TO me to pick II up. He stopped and began
to feel for 1t on the ground, when / quickly
drew my Colt and struck him a tremendous
blow on the back Of the head, knocking him
senseless to the ground. | then rapidly
turned round and saw that the man In 'front.'
had heard his companion fall and had turned
70 see what was the matter, his band upon
his revolver. We faced each other slmulta-
neously, and before he had time 10 fire | shot
him dead through the head. Then, jumping
on my horse, / made tracks through the
darkness as well as the rough ground would
allow.
The other outlaws in the dugout had, how
ever, heard the shot, and, guessing that there
was trouble, they all came rushing down the
creek, and, following the sound Of my
horses feet, gave me chase. II was a ride
for life, and spared not my horse. The
ground was rough ana hard. and my hunters
were gaining on me. Soon heard them fir
Ing at random; then their voices as they
erept ON TO me. The game was up; had
but one chance Of escaping with a whole
skin. Leaping off my horse. | gave him u
hard slap, sending him careering on along
the valley, while / rapidly took to the under
wood Just as my purSuers rushed by In hot
haste, believing that was still on the back
OF my horse they. heard Gathering down tina
ravine.
Ipassed that night in the open, and at
early dawn tramped, fOotsore and weary.
and played out, to the nearest station, soma
twelve miles off, where told the story. We
formed party and rode to the dug-Out to
interview my comrades Of the previous night.
but TO no purpose. The dug-out was desert
ed as though IL had never been the habita-
ton OF man, and the only trace Of huma